Matt Brown: 'Losing in front of your friends and family sucks pretty bad'

Matt Brown proudly remembers March 7, 2009 as the greatest moment of his fighting career. He hopes to top that feeling on Saturday night, but the reward doesn’t come without substantial risk.

“It should be good,” Brown told USA TODAY Sports for Cincinnati.com. “Right now, it’s just a fight, but assuming that I win and all goes well, I’ll be really pumped then. Until then, I don’t really think about. Losing in front of your friends and family sucks pretty bad.

“People always forget about that. They ask, ‘How pumped are you to fight in front of your friends and family?’ Well, it’s pretty cool if I win, but if I lose it’s because I pretty much sucked. They all suck if you lose.”

Brown is a 33-year-old Xenia, Ohio, native who currently resides in Columbus with his wife, Colleen, and twin 3-year-old boys Connor and Hunter. On Saturday night, he headlines a UFC event for the first time in his nine-year career as a professional mixed martial artist.

For the ever-humble, even-keeled Brown, the opportunity is well-received, but the privilege isn’t one that takes away his focus from what really matters.

“I feel honored, for sure, but it’s an irrelevant point to me right now,” Brown said. “To me, it’s just a fight on a certain day.”

That 2009 date Brown currently remembers as his favorite was the night he fought in his adopted hometown of Columbus and scored a TKO win over Pete Sell. On Saturday, Brown (18-11) travels 90 minutes down I-71 to Cincinnati’s U.S. Bank Arena to face Brazilian slugger Erick Silva (16-4) in the main event of “UFC Fight Night: Brown vs. Silva.”

The night’s six-fight main card airs on FOX Sports 1 (10 p.m. ET) following four preliminary bouts that air on FOX Sports 2 (8 p.m. ET) and an additional three that stream on UFC Fight Pass (6:30 p.m. ET).

Brown comes into the matchup on an impressive run, having earned six-consecutive victories, which gives him the longest active winning streak in the UFC’s welterweight division. Meanwhile, the 29-year-old Silva is a still a relative unknown in the U.S. but is considered one of Brazil’s brightest prospects, and he’s quickly becoming a superstar in his home country.

Silva has been a bit inconsistent in his seven UFC fights to date, but his speed, athleticism and striking prowess make him a danger to any foe. In fact, while Brown currently sits No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports MMA welterweight rankings, the unranked Silva is actually the oddsmakers’ favorite.

Brown is used to playing the underdog but believes the books have it wrong.

“I don’t really think about it too much, but I do find it very odd,” Brown said. “If I was personally an oddsmaker, I would not have the odds like that.

“I don’t get, but I just let them worry about that. They can lose all their money; it’s no problem for me.”

Brown is a heavy hitter, and his eight knockout wins in the UFC are the most in the history of the promotion’s welterweight division. Silva’s quickness and creativity will provide an ample challenge, but if Brown is able to pass the test, he may have a new answer when asked about the proudest moment of his fighting career. And it seems – for Brown, at least – the risk is certainly worth the reward.

“I’m happy for myself and that with all the time and work that I’ve put in, I’m able to show that I’ve been doing the right things and that my hard work is paying off,” Brown said. “That means a lot to me personally. I’ve sacrificed a lot to get where I’m at. I’ve worked very hard, and I’ve put my family through hard times, myself through hard times. It’s not easy.”

ALBANY, N.Y. – MMAjunkie is on scene and reporting live from today’s UFC Fight Night 102 event at Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., which kicks off at 5:45 p.m. ET (2:45 p.m. PT). You can discuss the event here.

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